Nov. 16, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M concludes a two-match road swing on Wednesday when the Aggies take on Kansas State. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Ahearn Field House in Manhattan, Kan.
Live audio of the match will be available at AggieAthletics.com with Ryne Hillenberg calling the action.
Both teams are aiming to get back into the win column after suffering consecutive losses. A&M followed a three-match winning streak, including a win against highly regarded Oklahoma, with three losses -- two of them in five sets. K-State has lost 10 of its last 11 matches -- nine of the losses were sweeps -- since topping A&M, 3-0, in College Station on Oct. 2.
The Aggies (12-14, 6-10 Big 12) are in eighth place in the Big 12 standings, one game behind both Baylor and Kansas who are tied for sixth. Most recently, A&M fell to fourth-place Missouri, in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday.
K-State (10-17, 4-12 Big 12) is coming off a 25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23 home loss to Baylor on Saturday and is ninth in the Big 12, two games behind the Aggies. The Wildcats, however, have historically been tough for the Aggies in Manhattan. The Aggies' last three meetings at Ahearn have gone five sets and have been won by K-State, whose only home loss to A&M was in 2006.
The senior-less Aggies are led by junior outside hitter Kelsey Black, who leads the Big 12 in points (4.87) and aces (0.39) per set and is second in the league with 4.13 kills per set. Freshman setter Allie Sawatzky is sixth in the conference with 9.62 assists per set, and sophomore libero Tori Mellinger is ninth in the league with 4.13 digs per set for the full season. In addition, sophomore middle blockers Lindsey Miller and Stephanie Minnerly are ninth and 10th, respectively, in the Big 12 for blocks, with 1.05 and 1.03 per set for the full season.
Senior outside hitter JuliAnne Chisholm leads the Wildcats with 2.97 kills per set but is hitting .139. Sophomore middle blocker Alex Muff is averaging a team-best 1.28 blocks per set, ranking fourth in the Big 12.
A&M QUICK HITS:
• Sophomore libero Tori Mellinger had 16 digs against Missouri to give her 409 for the season, the ninth most digs in a single season in A&M history. She needs 17 more digs to move into eighth place, ahead of Stacy Sykora, who had 425 digs in 1997. Mellinger has posted double figures in digs in a team-leading 21 matches -- including seven matches in which she has tallied 20 or more digs -- and she has led or tied for team-high honors in digs in 17 matches.
• Junior outside hitter Kelsey Black has led or tied for the team lead in kills in all 26 matches this season. Sophomore middle blocker Lindsey Miller had 11.0 points to Black's 10.5 points at Missouri on Wednesday, marking the first time Black did not lead the Aggies in points this season.
• Black's 85 attack attempts at Baylor on Nov. 6 is the second most swings by an A&M player in school history. Laura Jones (2003-05) holds the school record with 88 swings in a 3-2 victory over LSU on Sept. 10, 2005.
• Black has scored 482 points this season, ranking ninth in the A&M rally-scoring season records. She needs only 13 more points to surpass both Laura Jones and Melissa Munsch, who each tallied 494 points in 2002, the seventh most points in school history.
• A&M has played nine five-set matches this season, tying the school record for most five-set matches in a single season set in 1988 and tied in 2005. The Aggies are 2-7 in five-set matches this season.
• A&M leads the Big 12 with 1.26 aces per set and ranks second for fewest aces allowed (0.76) per set in all matches.
• In conference matches only, A&M is second in the league for fewest kills allowed per set (12.06) and fewest assists allowed (11.34) per set.
• Individually, Kelsey Black continues to lead the Big 12 and is ranked 18th in the nation with 4.87 points per set for the full season. She also leads the league and is 37th in the nation with 0.39 aces per set. Black is second in the Big 12 and 27th in the country with 4.13 kills per set.
• In Big 12 matches only, Black is second with 4.72 points per set and fourth with 4.12 kills and 0.25 aces per set. Mellinger is seventh in digs with a 4.23 average, and Sawatzky is eighth in assists with 9.52 per set. In addition, Miller is eighth in the league with 1.11 blocks per set in conference play.
• A&M is 10-0 this season when winning the first set and 10-2 when winning the third set. Conversely, A&M is 2-13 when losing the first set, and 2-11 when dropping the third set.
• Freshman setter Allie Sawatzky, who has started every match for the Aggies this season, has tallied 50 or more assists in five matches, including 52 assists in the win against Oklahoma.
• Sophomore middle blocker Lindsey Miller, who hit an A&M season-high .611 (minimum 10 kills) against Colorado on Oct. 23, has posted double figures in kills nine times this season, including four times in the last six matches. In addition, Miller has totaled 19 blocks in the last three matches, averaging 1.36 blocks per set over the last three matches.
• Aggie libero Tori Mellinger recorded a career-high 34 digs against Missouri on Oct. 13, the most digs by a Big 12 player this season. Her 34 digs also is the most by an A&M player in the rally-point scoring era -- using both the 30- and 25-point scoring cap -- and ranks fifth all-time in the Aggie record books. It is the most digs by an Aggie since Erin Gibson had 35 against Colorado in 2000 and only four shy of tying the all-time record of 38 set by Yvonne Van Brandt in 1988 and tied by Stacy Sykora in 1998 using side-out scoring.
• Outside hitter and primary passer Chelsea Ringel leads the Aggies with 492 service receptions. Mellinger is second with 482 service receptions and leads the team with a 97.1 percent reception rate.
• A&M entered the week ranked 22nd in the nation in home attendance, averaging 1,504 per match in 12 home contests. The Aggies, who are currently 6-6 in home matches this season, had a season-high 3,305 in attendance to cheer them on to a 3-0 victory against No. 8 Texas on Sept. 16.
• Black has twice tied the A&M all-time record for aces in a match this season for both a three-set match and a five-set match, posting six apiece against Sam Houston State and Pacific. She already has 39 aces in 2010, the most by an A&M player since former Aggie All-American Melissa Munsch (2001-04) posted 42 aces in 2004. Black needs six more aces to break into the A&M top 10 for aces in a single season.
• Black, Miller, Sawatzky and Stephanie Minnerly have started every match this season, and Ringel has started all but one and has played in all 96 sets. Mellinger has been the designated libero in every set.
• Laurie Corbelli, the winningest coach in A&M volleyball history, is 375-183 in her 18th season at the helm of the Aggies and 475-289 in the 25th season of her head coaching career.
A&M-KANSAS STATE SERIES RECORDS:
• K-State leads the overall series, 18-12, since the teams first met in 1981. The Wildcats are 18-11 against A&M in Big 12 matches only.
• A&M is 1-13 all-time in Manhattan, 10-5 against the Wildcats in matches played in College Station, and 1-0 at neutral sites.
• Each of the last three meetings in Manhattan have gone five sets.
• The Aggies' only win at Ahearn Field House was a three-game sweep on Nov. 4, 2006, the only year A&M has swept the season series.
• Last year, the teams split the season series with each team winning on its home court. It was the ninth time the teams split the series.
• K-State has swept the series four times and will be going for its fifth sweep on Wednesday.
• Earlier this season, A&M got off to a slow start against K-State and never fully recovered as the Aggies suffered a disappointing 25-19, 25-19, 29-27 loss to the Wildcats on Oct. 2 at Reed Arena. K-State outhit the Aggies, .220 to .126, and also led in every other positive statistical category, including kills (42-35), assists (42-31), aces (7-3), digs (57-54) and blocks (6.0 to 5.5). Kelsey Black led A&M with 10 kills but also committed 10 attack errors. Chelsea Ringel added seven kills and a team-high 18 digs. Tori Mellinger pitched in 12 digs, and Sarah Grace also reached double figures with 10. Kaitlynn Pelger and Kathleen Ludwig led the Wildcats in kills with 12 and 10, respectively, and libero Lauren Mathewson led all players with 19 digs.
A LOOK AT THE WILDCATS:
• Kansas State is 10-17 overall and in ninth place in the Big 12 with a 4-12 league mark.
• K-State is coming off a 25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23 loss to Baylor at Ahearn on Saturday. Freshman outside hitter Dakota Kaufman came off the bench to tie senior JuliAnne Chisholm for the team lead with 11 kills, but the team was held to a .138 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle blocker Alex Muff had nine blocks, including three solos, for the Wildcats, who led Baylor, 11-7, in total blocks.
• K-State is 10th in the Big 12 with a .155 hitting percentage for the full season. The Wildcats also are 10th with 10.79 assists per set, as well as 10th for aces allowed (1.22) and digs allowed (16.68).
• The Wildcats are 7-6 in home matches and 2-8 in away matches.
• K-State, which finished ninth in the Big 12 standings with a 6-14 record in 2009, is picked to finish ninth this season, according to a preseason poll of the league coaches.
• Suzie Fritz (Florida Atlantic `94) is 193-114 in her 10th season as head coach at K-State.
UPCOMING:
A&M returns home for its second to the last home match of the season on Sunday, Nov. 21 when the Aggies play host to the No. 14 Iowa State Cyclones. Match time is set for 2 p.m. at Reed Arena. The Aggies play at No. 7 Texas on Wed., Nov. 24, and then conclude the regular season at home against No. 5 Nebraska on Sat., Nov. 27 at 4 p.m. at Reed Arena. The match will be the Cornhuskers' final match as members of the Big 12 Conference, as they leave for the Big Ten Conference next year.